Why You Will Need Less Money Than You Think for Retirement

By

Jonathan Clements

Apr 9, 2015 8:40 am ET

Conventional wisdom says you need retirement income equal to 80% of your final salary. But there is a decent chance you could happily retire with far less.

Let’s start with reality: Most of us don’t have a well-honed financial plan in which we set out to amass a specific sum and quit the workforce only when we hit our target. Instead, we save what we can and then make do.

If that means retiring with less than 80%, I wouldn’t be overly concerned. Consider a 2014 survey of recent retirees by Baltimore’s T. Rowe Price Group.